The two leading foreign policy columnists for the New York Times are Thomas L. Friedman and Bret Stephens, whose opeds are frequently apologies for Israeli policy.  In the past week, both used the occasion of the death of Yahya Sinwar to make the futile case for “Build[ing] Peace from Sinwar’s Death” and marking Sinwar’s death as an “opportunity” for the dawn of hope,” respectively.  Once upon a time, Friedman was an excellent correspondent in the Middle East, based in both Beirut and Jerusalem, and the author of From Beirut to Jerusalem, which was an intelligent and thoughtful account of the region.  Stephens has long been a right-wing apologist for Israel, once having served as the editor of the Jerusalem Post.

Both journalists argue that it is up to the Palestinians to take the lead in building a more politically moderate Middle East and to create conditions for the start of real diplomacy.  Neither Friedman nor Stephens acknowledges the difficult task of getting access to a new Hamas leadership or the even more difficult task of getting a notoriously right-wing Israeli government to compromise on any aspect of an Arab-Israeli peace plan.  Stephens risibly refers to the possibility of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “living up to his Churchillian self-image,” (whatever that could possibly mean).

Thomas L. Friedman in the New York Times, October 2024:

“A reformed Palestinian Authority, with massive Arab and international funds, would attempt to restore its credibility in Gaza, and the credibility of its core Fatah organization in Palestinian politics—and sideline the remnants of Hamas.”

I would argue that the general consensus is that the Palestinian Authority is hopelessly corrupt to the core (helped to that condition by Israel), and there is no support for its president, Mahmoud Abbas.

“…the participation of a reformed West Bank Palestinian Authority in an international             peacekeeping force would take over Gaza in the place of the Sinwar-led Hamas.”

The notion that Israel will ever accept a two-state solution, particularly after the horrific nightmare that took place on October 7, 2024, and its demolition of both Hamas and Hezbollah, is particularly far-fetched.

“The death of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar…creates the possibility for the biggest step  toward a two-state solution between Israelis and Palestinians since Oslo [1993], as well as normalization between Israel and Saudi Arabia—which means pretty much the entire Muslim world.”

Netanyahu has never believed in the creation of a two-state solution, and this has been true for the past 30 years ever since the Oslo Accords endorsed such a solution thirty years ago.

Bret Stephens in the New York Times, October 2024:

“But the opportunity in Sinwar’s death and Hamas’s military evisceration is that it begins             to open a space for young  Gazans …to openly and assertively reject Hamas’s brand of             maximalist fanatical, Islamist policies.”

Stephens doesn’t name any specific Arab leader capable of creating the “conditions for another attempt by Israel and the Palestinians to negotiate a different future in both Gaza and the West Bank.  To do so, the Israelis would have to withdraw settlements from the West Bank and foreswear future fortifications in Gaza.  Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant are talking about the exact opposite—adding to the settlement projects in the West Bank and returning settlements to Gaza.  As for the so-called young Gazans in northern Gaza, they are simply waiting to die, according to Philippe Lazzarini, the head of the main UN aid agency for Palestinians.

“Creating well-supplied humanitarian safe zones (perhaps administered by NATO security forces) for Gazan women, children, the elderly and men who have passed a security screening can further safeguard civilians and separate them from potential combatants.”

There is no reason to believe that Israel would ever accept “NATO security forces” in Gaza.

“Finally, an Arab mandate for Palestine…could provide a long-term answer for all sides: a credible Arab-led security force in Gaza; European-led economic reconstruction; a  long-term path toward a politically moderate, economically prosperous Palestinian state; and closer ties between Israel ad friendly Arab states.”

Similarly, there is even less of a possibility that Israel would accept an “Arab-led security force in Gaza.”  Friedman and Stephens surely know this.

Neither Friedman nor Stephens cites the criminality and inhumanity of Israel’s bombing campaign, which includes the murderous ethnic cleansing being conducted in northern Gaza, a region that Israel previously claimed was devoid of a Hamas presence.  According to Lazzarini, the Commissioner-General of UNRWA, the smell of death is everywhere in northern Gaza, where Israel denies entry to the missions needed to clear the bodies or provide humanitarian assistance.

These Israeli actions are the major obstacles to getting a cease-fire in Gaza and Lebanon, and ensure that the measures cited by Friedman and Stephens cannot be employed. Israel’s continuing attacks on aid workers in Gaza, its continuing refusal to allow aid into Gaza, its continuing bombardment of schools and hospitals belie any intention to reach an agreement with Palestinians.  Nevertheless, Secretary of State Antony Blinken maintains that “The fundamental questions is: Is Hamas serious?,” regarding the possibility of cease-fire talks.

Meanwhile, Netanyahu does everything possible to embarrass U.S. envoys trying to arrange a cease-fire in the region.  Friedman and Stephens believe that the Biden team has an important role to play, but Netanyahu goes out of his way to embarrass the United States on its diplomatic missions.  The latest Israeli effort was to intensify the bombing campaign in Lebanon as Secretary of State Blinken was completing his 11th mission to the region to arrange a cease-fire.  And to make matters worse, the bombing campaign targeted the historic coastal city of Tyre, one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world and a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1984. Thus far, Israel is not prepared to take any steps to advance the cause of peace, and the Palestinians and the Arab states are powerless to do anything about this.

Plus ca change, plus ce le meme chose.

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